The National Voters Day is annually celebrated across India on 25th January to spread awareness among the voters and to promote informed participation in the electoral process.
25th January 2021, marks the celebration of the 11th National Voters Day by Election Commission of India (ECI).
The theme of the National Voters Day 2021 is “Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed”.
Purpose:
To encourage, facilitate and increase the enrolment, mainly focused on new voters.
Background:
The National Voters Day has been observed on 25th January since 2011 to mark the foundation of the ECI on 25th January 1950.
Events:
i.Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India virutlay participated in the celebration events of National Voters Day 2021 in New Delhi from Rashtrapati Bhawan.The events are organised by the ECI.
ii.Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology participated in the event as the Guest of Honour.
Key Features of the Event:
i.President Ram Nath Kovind awarded the 2020-2021 National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices.
ii.He also launched “Hello Voters” , the web radio of ECI which can be accessed through the ECI’s website.
iii.Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, released the 3 publications of ECI,
- Conducting Election During Pandemic- A Photo Journey:- A photo book featuring the struggles of conduction election amid pandemic.
- SVEEP Endeavours: Awareness initiatives during Lok Sabha Election, 2019:- the book provides insight into voter awareness interventions, innovations and initiatives during the 17th General Election, conducted in 2019.
- Chalo Karen Matdaan:- a comic book aimed to educate voters in a fun and thought provoking way.
iv.He also launched the e-EPIC(Elector Photo Identity Card) programme and distributed e-EPCI and he also felicitated and handed over the EPIC to 5 new voters.
iv.The e-EPIC can be accessed through Voter Helpline App and websites https://voterportal.eci.gov.in/ and https://www.nvsp.in/.
e-EPIC Programme:
i.The e-EPIC is a non-editable secure portable document format (PDF) version of the EPIC and will have a secured QR code with image and demographics like serial number, part number, etc.
ii.This initiative will be launched in 2 phases,
- In the first phase from 25th January to 31st January 2021, all the new voters who have applied for their ID and registered mobile numbers in form 6 will be availed the e-EPIC through mobile authentication.
- In the second phase starting from 1st February, will be open for the general voters who have registered their mobile numbers.
iii.The e-EPIC will have significance in the upcoming polls in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
National Awards for Best practices 2020-2021:
i.The National Awards for Best practices will be annually awarded to the officers of State and District Level for their contribution in conducting the election in various aspects like IT initiatives, Security Management, Election Management during COVID-19, Accessible Election and contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach.
ii.The national award will also be presented to the stakeholders like national icons, Civil society organizations (CSOs) and media groups for their contribution in creating awareness among voters.
About Election Commission of India:
Chief Election Commissioner– Sunil Arora
Election Commissioner– Sushil Chandra & Rajiv Kumar
Headquarters– New Delhi
